Rainbow Lorikeets in Orange

[Harvey Perkins <>]

> The birds in Orange may be escapees, but
> they may become established or
> others move in from the coast. Only time
> will tell.

Canberra is in a very similar position as regards Rainbow Lorikeets. The following is the introductory paragraphs from a paper by Adam Leavesley published in the June 2003 issue of Canberra Bird Notes:

Rainbow Lorikeets Trichoglossus haematodus are widespread across Australia, occupying a diversity of habitats along the eastern seaboard including the suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (Forshaw 1988, Higgins 1999). A feral population has successfully established in Perth. The ACT is probably marginal to the natural range of the species although there have been occasional records of birds as far west as Coonabarabran, Dubbo, Parkes and Albury.

First records for the species in the ACT were made prior to 1950, but sightings increased steadily from 1970 when six birds were released at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. Breeding was suspected at the time (Peters 1971, Wilson 1999). Evidence for the existence of a local population came from an analysis of records of 'pet' species by Veerman (1991) who found that the number of Rainbow Lorikeet records in 1987-88 was far in excess of the combined total for all other 'escapee' species. On this basis it was concluded that the species was probably surviving in the wild.

The difficulty in distinguishing escaped or released aviary birds from wild birds, however, makes the status of the species in Canberra difficult to assess (Veerman 1991, Wilson 1999). Until recently the species has been treated as a rare visitor to the ACT (e.g. COG 2000, Wilson 1999). However, partly due to the observations reported here, the Rainbow Lorikeet is now listed as a rare breeding resident (COG 2001, 2002).

Harvey

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Dr Harvey D. Perkins
School of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
The Australian National University
Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
ph +61 2 6125 2693; fax:+61 2 6125 0313
and:
Pest Animal Control Cooperative Research Centre
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Editor, Canberra Bird Notes
(Journal of the Canberra Ornithologists Group)
42 Summerland Circuit, Kambah, ACT 2902
Ph: (02) 6231 8209  mobile: 043 886 9990

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